Smoke consumer



July 20 1926,

Z. REGNIER SMOKE CONSUMER Filed August 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 w? E M A July 20, 1926.

Z. REGNIER SMOKE CONSUMER Filed August 12 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 20, 1926.

umrsnsraras ZEPHIR REGNIEE, or KANKAKEE; ILLINOIS.

SMOKE CONSUMER.

Application filed August 12, 1925.

My invention relates to means for overcoming the emission of dense smoke from steam boiler furnaces and has for its object the provision of novel. means whereby the unconsumed carbon and volatile matters,

panying drawings and willbe hereinafter fully described, the novel features being particularly pointed out in. the appended claims. i

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation; v y

Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. 2. I

In the drawings,the reference numeral 1 indicates the walls of a steam. boiler furnace, and 2 indicates the: boiler arranged in the upper portion of the structure, while 3 indicates the furnace having a fire-box or cham ber controlled .by the fuel doors 4 and an ash pit to which access maybe had through the doors 5. A smoke flue Grises from. the top of the furnace and communicates direct ly with a laterally extending flue 7 which merges into a verticallydisposed branch 8 leading directly to the stack. Above the laterally extending fine 7, I arrange the upper smoke chamber 9 andthe lowersmoke chamber 10, the former communicating through a pipe 11 withthe stack. and access to the latter beingh'ad through a; pipe 12. A damper 13is interposed in the stack adjacent the outlet pipe- 111 and the pivot or shaft of this damper has. secured upon one end a lever let. which. carries a. weight '15 at its outer end: and hasan operating rope 1.6 secured to its inner end. Obviously, the weight 15 tends to hold; the damperin the 0 closed position-illustrated in the drawings,

and by pu-llingupon the. rope the damper may be swung to open position, as will be readily understood, The rope may hang free or it may be securedto a shelf 17 Seriat No. 49,788.

mounted upon the Wall of the furnace room or upon any convenient fixed support, a motor 18 being also-carried by the said shelf. Immediately b elow the damper 1 3, a branch pipe 19 extends to a blower casing 2Q in which is mounted a fan'or rotary blower having a pulley 21 upon one end of its shaft, which pulley is connected with the PATENT OFFICE.

shaft of the motor 18- by a belt 22. The pipe,

12 constitutes the outlet from the blower casing 20 and establishes communication between the same and the lower smoke chamber 10. The motor. l8is electrically driven,

the current being supplied overv conductors 23 leading from a local generator ora central plant. to andcthrough a switch box 25 which is located adjacent the motor. I;

The water for "supplying theboilerfiows through asupply pipe 26 which is connected with the city main or other source of supply, a branch 27 leading downwardly from the main supply pipe 26 into the inlet pipe. 28 which extends directly to the inlet port of' a pump 29 which may. be of .any preferred form. The outlet pipe. 30of the pump leads directly into the boilerand a cutoff valve 31 of any knownor preferred. construction is interposed in the branch=27 so that, when the required amount ofwater has been supplied to the boiler, further inflow maybe cut off. A branch 32 leads fromthemain water supply p'ipe'26to an automaticregw lating valve: 33 and from the said valve a pipe 34 is carried into the upper portion of the lower smokechamber 10 at that end of the same ,remotefromthe blower,v The said pipe 34 has. a. portion 35' extending longitudinally through the smoke chamber 10 at the top of the same, and this portion is provided I with perforations orjets. in. its under side through which aspray ofwater may escape into the smoke chamber, aswill be readily understood, The end of the spray pipe. 35

nearer the blower is coupled to a short. vertical pipe 36 which. establishes. communication. with a second spray pipe 37 extending longitudinally in the upper smoke chamber 9 nearthetop thereof and. having its inner end closed by a. cap or. other device38. Upon reference to Fig. 2, itwill .be noted that I have shown a. pairxof parallel spray pipes having their endsco-nnectedby a closed coupling. A horizontal partition or baffle 39 separates the upper and lower smoke chambers and terminates short of that end of said chambers more remote from the blower so that communication is established between the two chambers, and at the latter end of the upper smoke chamber is a manhole 40 through which access may be had thereto when it is necessary to clean the same. Fromthe lower portion of the lower smoke chamber 10, a return pipe 41 extends downwardly to a coupling 42 whereby it is connected with the water pipes 27 and 28 so that the warm water which tends to collect in the smoke chamber will be returned to the pump and thence forced into the boiler. From the upper portion of the smoke chamber 10, a gas return pipe 43 extends downwardly and discharges into the furnace adjacent the grate of the fire box so that the gases may be commingled with the coal or other fuel supplied to the fire box and be burnt, thereby adding to the intensity of the fire while at the same time effecting an economy in the use of the fuel. A second return pipe 44, of larger diameter than the return pipe 48, leads from the lower portion of the lower smoke chamber 10 and discharges into the upper portion of the fire box to effect return of the unconsumed particles of carbon to the fire box where they will also be consumed and effect a further economy in the use of fuel.

A shield or deflector 45 is provided in the upper portion of the lower smoke chamber 10 and extends partly through the opening between the two smoke chambers so that the products of combustion flowing through the lower smoke chamber will be prevented from passing directly into the upper smoke cham ber and will be forced to flow under the said deflector and around the end of the same in order to enter the upper smoke chamber. These products of combustion will be thereby directed toward the inlet of the gas return pipe 43 and in order that the flow of the gases into said pipe may be complete a guard 46 is provided immediately above the end of the said return pipe, and this guard extends downwardly and inwardly so as to check theupward flow of the gases at this point. Immediately adjacent the entrance end of the return pipe 44, a brush 47 is mounted inthe lower smoke chamber and a guard or deflector 48 is provided to extend from the end of the chamber over the said brush, as shown. A belt 49 connects the shaft of the brush 47 with the shaft of the blower so that this brush as well as the blower will be driven from the motor 18. A guard or deflector 50 extends from the end wall of the smoke chamber below the carbon return pipe 44 and over the entrance to the water return pipe 41, the lower edge of the deflector 50 being normally partly submerged so that it prevents the soot and other particles floating on the water from entering the water pipe. The rotation of the brush, which consists of a copper core and stiff copper bristles, sweeps the solid particles into the carbon return pipe 44. The draft through the gas return pipe 43 is greater than the natural draft through the upper smoke chamber so that the gas is drawn into said pipe and returned to the furnace, being delivered below the grate.

The stem 51 of the valve 33 extends through the bottom of the valve casing and is connected to a governor lever which is fulcrumed on a bracket on top of the furnace. A weight 55 is adjustably mounted on the free end of the lever and the opposite end of the lever is connected by a link 56 with a piston 57 working in a cyl inder 58 in the top of the boiler and exposed to the pressure of the steam therein. A spring 59 is arranged between the valve casing 52 and the lever 53 and tends to hold the valve 33 seated. When the steam pressure in the boiler is low, the valve 33 is seated and there is no diversion of water from the supply pipe into the smoke chain bers 9 and 10, but as the steam pressure rises it acts upon the piston 57 and eventually lifts the piston and thereby actuates the lever to unseat the valve and admit water to the spray pipes 35 and 37. The lever may be provided at its fulcrum with a rheostat arm 60 controlling the circuit through the motor 18. The rheostat is illustrated in a more or less conventional manner and may be of any well-known form. W hen the steam pressure is low and the valve 83 seat-- ed, the motor will be driven at high speed to create a strong suction through the gas pipe 43 and the soot pipe 44, but as the steam pressure rises the speed of the motor will be automatically decreased.

The damper 13 is maintained in its closed position at all times, unless there should be a failure of the power for driving the motor so that the circulation of the outflowing smoke and other products of combustion will be through the blower into the pipe 12 and then through the smoke chambers and the pipe 11 into the stack abovethe damper, as indicated by the arrows in the drawings. The water will cape through the spray pipes 35 and 37 onto the smoke and unconsumed matters flowing through the smoke chambers so that the gases will be cooled and the carbon and other solid particles will be precipitated to the bottom of the respective smoke chaiubers. The greater portions of these heavier particles collect in the lower smoke chamber where they will be exposed more directly to the force of the blast from the blower and by the said blast will be driven toward the brush 4'? which will sweep them into the return pipe 44. The blast from the blower aided by the natural draft through the furnace will also force the gases tending to collect at the top of the smoke chamber into the return pipe 43, the deflector 45 forcing them 'to flow down from the chamber in order to clear the deflector, aswill be readily understood. The water admitted to the smoke chambers will obviously be raised in temperature so that it will not have a chilling effect on the boiler when it enters the same. The soot and gas, however, will be cooled in the smoke chambers and, con sequently, they will tend to cool the grates and retard the burning out of the same although they will feed the fire and add to the intensity of the same.

Should the electric current fail so that the motor could not operate, it would be necessary to open the damper 13 and depend upon the natural draft through the smoke stack, but under normal conditions the forced draft from the motor is available and low grade fuel may be used to quickly generate steam without the admission of any dense smoke from the chimney.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In an apparatus for the purpose .set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading from the furnace, a damper within the smoke stack, an upper smoke chamber in communication with the stack above the damper, a blower in communication with the stack below the damper, a lower smoke chamber in communication at one end with the blower and at its opposite end with the upper smoke chamber, means within the smoke chambers for removing from products of combustion therein unconsumed gases and solid particles, and means for returning to the furnace unconsumed gases and solid matters from the smoke chambers.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading therefrom, a damper therein, a smoke chamber in communication with the stack above the damper, means below the damper whereby the products of combustion may be permitted to flow out through the smoke stack or be diverted into and driven through the smoke chamber, means within the smoke chamber for removing from the products of combustion unconsumed gases and solid particles, and means for returning to the furnace the said gases and unconsumed particles.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading therefrom, a smoke chamber in direct communication with the smoke stack, means whereby the products of combustion may be caused to circulate through the smoke chamber or permitted to flow directly through the stack, a spray pipe within the smoke chamber, and means for smoke chamber.

4. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leachng therefrom, upper and lower smoke chambers in communication with the smoke stack and each other, spray pipes in the upper portions of the smoke chambers, return pipes leading from the lower smoke chamber to the furnace whereby to return to the furnace unconsumed gases and solid particles, and abrush operating within the lower smoke chamber adjacent the entrance to one of said return pipes.

5. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading therefrom, upper and lower smoke chambers in communication with each other and the smoke stack, means whereby products of combustion may be caused to flow directly through the stack or be diverted through the smoke chambers, a deflector mounted in the upper portion of the lower smoke chamber and extending partly into the upper smoke chamber, means for collecting unconsumed gases and solid particles from the products of combustion within the smoke chambers, and means for returning from the smoke chambers to the furnace the unconsumed gases and solid particles.

6. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading therefrom, smoke chambers, means whereby the products of combustion may be permitted to flow directly through the smoke stack or be diverted through the smoke chambers and ,escape therefrom through the smoke stack, a gas return pipe leading from the smoke chambers to the furnace, and a guard within a smoke chamber extending over the entrance end of said return pipe.

7. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a furnace, a smoke stack leading therefrom, smoke chambers, means whereby the products of combustion may be permitted to flow directly through the smoke stack or be diverted through the smoke chambers, a return pipe leading from the smoke chambers to the furnace whereby to return to the furnace the unconsumed solid particles from the products of combustion, a brush operating adjacent the entrance end of said return pipe, and a guard 7 extending over said brush.

8. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination with a steam boiler furnace, of a smoke stack leading there from, a smoke chamber in communication with the smoke stack, means whereby prod ucts of combustion may be permitting to flow directly through the smoke stack or be direrted through the smoke chamber to escape therefrom into the smoke stack, means for admitting Water tothe smoke chamber for spraying the products of combustion therein, means for returning to the furnace the gases and solid particles separated by the Water in the smoke chamber, and means for conveying Water from the smoke cham her to the boiler space of the furnace.

9. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination with a steam boiler furnace, of a smoke stack leading therefrom, a smoke chamber in communication with the smoke stack, means controlled by the steam pressure in the boiler of thefurnace for admitting Water to the smoke chamber for spraying the products of combustion therein, means for returning to the furnace the gases and solid particles separated by the Water in the smoke chamber,

and means for conveying Water from the smoke chamber to the boiler space of the furnace.

10. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination With a steam boiler furnace, and a smoke stack leading ther from, of asmoke chamber in communication with the stack, a blower in communication With the smoke chamber, means controlled by the steam pressure in the boiler of the furnace for admitting Water to the smoke chamber and regulating the speed of the blower, means for conveying Water from the smoke chamber to the boiler space of the furnace and means for returning to the furnace the gases and solid particles separated in the smoke chamber.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ZEPHIR REGNIEB. [1,. st] 

